About Me

My Name Is Peggy, And I'm A Biblioholic

It started early. Pat the Bunny seemed so simple. So safe. And then I met Dick and Jane, and sure, I knew that it could be habit-forming, but not me. I could stop any time I wanted to. Really.

And then they hooked me up with the Doctor. A few hits of Green Eggs and Ham and I was hooked, and hooked hard. I read everything I could get my hands on, and before you know it, I was a print junkie, jonesing for a story fix and strung out on words.

They say the first step to getting better is admitting you have a problem. Well, that ain't what you're gonna get here, darlin'! This is my safe haven to express my love of books, authors, and the act of reading, and I'm damn well gonna wallow in it.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

July Reads

Summer is in full blast now (or should I say blast furnace), and any time spent outside causes me to wilt like the delicate flower that I am (shut up, Klaw). In times like this, the only thing that makes sense is to stay indoors and get to reading. 27 books make this month's list, ranging from silly, gross schoolday tales to true stories of some extraordinary women. Both The Tin Ticket and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks should not be missed and Margaret Atwood's In Other Worlds was a sheer pleasure to read. Fictionally, it's safe to say that I'm completely hooked on George Mann and can't wait to get my hands on The Osiris Ritual. For those keeping count, I think this brings my total to 173 books read since January. That's a lot of books!

Called to visit an eccentric uncle, 2 boys find themselves competing in a game that no one can (or will) explain. Some adventure, and a couple of likeable characters, but overall an unpleasant bunch of folks to spend time with.

In this collection of essays and reviews about science fiction, Atwood proves herself to be an savvy writer, a deep reader, and a charming companion. Elegant and wide-ranging, insightful and humorous—it's a delight to spend time in Ms. Atwood's company.

Back in 2007, Black and her co-editor Justine Larbalestier began an argument over the relative merits of unicorns (Black) and zombies (Larbalestier). This anthology is the culmination of that argument. The stories are good, but the joy of this anthology is the continual sniping between the editrixes before each story. Favorites include Naomi Novik's “Purity Test,” Scott Westerfield's “Inoculata,” Meg Cabot's “Princess Prettypants,” and Libba Bray's “Prom Night.”

Buford takes an in-depth look at the life of Jim Thorpe. She wades admirably through the layers of myth and legend and gives us a portrait of a greatly gifted man who was victimized by others, but who also caused or worsened many of his problems through his own behavior. Buford also gives a detailed portrait of Native American life at the turn of the century and the government and society's attitudes toward Native Americans.

Teen werewolves, along with some other supernatural elements. It's a new spin on werewolves, and there's some interesting story going on. What there wasn't was any indication that this was “book 1 of some indeterminate number,” so the complete non-ending was intensely irritating.

You know, until the little “The Story So Far” introduction, I had forgotten just how many plot threads were left dangling at the non-end of book 2. Re-connecting to the multitudinous characters and plot threads without a re-read is not easy, but the characters are so well done and the plot threads are so intriguing that you get all caught up in them anyway. I would have thought that it would take a much bigger book to bring things to a satisfying conclusion, but Durham manages very well. The story moves so fast it fairly sings, and the conclusion is extremely satisfying.

The first flat-out horror book that I've read in a while, The Dead Path really keeps you hooked. It's fast-moving and admirably creepy (and the book cover glows disturbingly in the dark). After a short stint in London, the bulk of the book takes place in Australia, and Irwin is adept at putting a plot that involves the highly British legends of the Green Man into the more rough-and-tumble Aussie language and setting. One thing—if you have a problem with spiders, you might want to give this one a pass. Seriously.

It's no secret what drew me to this book: the subtitle is A Math-Free Exploration of the Science That Made Our World. Math-free? That's for me. Sadly, as Kakalios admits in his introduction, it's not really math-free, merely math-simple (as defined by a physicist). Still and all, it's an enjoyable read. Kakalios is a self-admitted nerd and geek, and he draws his examples and illustrations from comic books. He's got a very accessible, conversational style, and he's not above a bad pun or two. Do I understand quantum mechanics now? No. Am I closer to understanding quantum mechanics? Definitely.

Greg Heffley is back, and his problems haven't gotten any better. Greg's jokes all backfire, his schemes come apart, Rowley is more popular (especially with the girls), and his older brother Rodrick gets away with everything, including making Greg's life miserable. Do you think Greg will ever realize that 98% of the problems he faces are his own fault? Nah, probably not.

School has started up again, and Ruby Oliver is still a pariah. None of her former friends are speaking with her, she has no boyfriend, the whole school thinks she's a slut, and she's still seeing a shrink. When Kim (her former best friend) goes to Japan for a semester abroad, Jackson (Ruby's ex, who Kim stole) starts to get friendly again. Ruby tries to regain her friends, sort out her feelings for Jackson (and Angelo, and Noel) and get some kind of handle on her life. Ruby's not perfect, but she is funny and a delight to spend time with.

Damn you, George Mann! Zombies & steampunk in the same book, and he makes me like it. The man has some kind of infenal powers. The inaugural adventures of Sir Maurice Newbury and Veronica Hobbes is an excellent introduction to the series. A series of murders in Whitechapel may or may not have supernatural origins, so Newbury is called in to investigate. In the middle of this case, the Queen calls him to the scene of a mysterious airship crash which has taken the life of a Dutch cousin. Things are odd at the crash site, with the pilot missing and the passengers perishing while tied to their seats. Is there a connection between the two cases? Zombies, automatons, a smattering of the occult, laudanum addiction, and the revelation that, unbeknownst to Newbury, Hobbes is also an agent of the Queen, hired to keep an eye on Newbury and his addictions.

We finally see Captain Alatriste at war, as Spain tries to hold onto its martial glory in Flanders. Despite his worship of Alatriste and a boy's excitement about war, glory, and honor, Inigo learns that there is no glory in war, and honor only in those who fight unflinchingly, because that's what they said they would do.

A very interesting way of looking at American history, and some truly fascinating information. But my interests do not coincide with Russell's, and where he spent pages I would have preferred paragraphs, and where he had a few paragraphs, I would have preferred pages. The radical notion that Russell proposes is that democracy isn't about freedom; in fact, it's often more repressive than other systems of government, but the repression comes from the individuals rather than the government. He also takes pains to point out the freedoms we enjoy today that would not have been possible without prostitutes, drunkards, and organized crime. Fascinating stuff.

Bradley Chalkers is the boy everyone avoids, students and teachers alike. He's weird, he's mean, he doesn't do homework, and he doesn't have friends. But then he meets the school counselor, Carla, and discovers what it's like to not be judged and to not have to hate all the time. It's a quick read, with a lot of humor, and Bradley Chalkers will charm your socks off and break your heart.

Akash has a gift for math, but his family is in debt and cannot afford to continue his schooling. When his father dies, his grandmother gives him to the man who holds their debt, who forces Akash to work at his quarry. When the first payday comes, Akash's abilities allow him to see that he will never be able to work off the debt, so he runs away. Falling in with a gang of street kids, Akash finds himself challenged: exactly how far is he willing to go to earn the money for tutoring? Fast-moving, and Akash is certainly likeable, although you never really get the sense that he won't succeed.

When Henrietta Lacks, poor and black, went to the doctor because of pain, a doctor took a sample of her cancer cells without asking her (or even telling her). Henrietta died, quickly and in great pain, and for her family, that was the end of it. For doctors, however, the story was only beginning, because Henrietta's cells lived on, becoming the first strain of cells hardy enough for testing and experiments. Doctors, hospitals, and labs around the world made great breakthroughs (and, not incidentally, a ton of money), while Henrietta's family couldn't even afford health insurance. Skloot covers issues of privacy and ownership and scientific gain, but the heart of this story is Henrietta's family, cut off and wounded, and their rediscovery of their mother.

Although certainly not the first serial killer, Joseph Vacher was the first to be caught using what we would think of as the modern tools of criminal investigation: careful autopsy, scientific testing, profiling, and correlation of data from different areas. Vacher was an odd and interesting killer, but the real fascinating stuff here is the birth of modern forensics and the personalities involved in it. Good read!

Early chapter book for kids with no supernatural bits and no horror (except for the gross-out factor of frequent hurling or a gassy bulldog). Bernie tries to turn around the football team's losing season and ends up having to spend time with Jennifer Ecch, who's totally, horribly in love with him. Light and funny with some terrible puns (i.e., Coach Manly Bunz).

Bernie's slave, er, friend Belzer gets a letter telling him his parents are tired of hearing about Bernie, so they're going to pull him out of school. Unwilling to loses a well-trained slave, Bernie pulls out all the stops to make sure Belzer wins the Heinie Prize for outstanding student.

Just prior to the reign of Queen Victoria, the British government attempted to solve two of its problems (the threat of losing its Australian colonies due to a lack of colonists and a massive underclass of working poor forced to steal simply to survive) by transporting its prisoners to the far-flung colonies and forcing them to serve their time there. Some 25,000 of these transportees were women (their dependent children were often transported, too), most convicted of petty theft. Their lives in Britain were miserable and cruel, prison was worse, the transport itself was dangerous, and the life awaiting them was no improvement. Swiss uses the stories of a few women to illustrate the whole situation, and does a remarkable job. It's impossible to read about these women's lives and not be moved by their sheer stubborn survival. Awesome book.

Intricate character detail and some heady science and philosophy about heaven, hell, and the nature of existence weakened by an insistence that, if a novel has a plot, it is generic and somehow inherently less (artistic, literary, worthy) than one solely concerned with ideas.

Jake Semple has been thrown out of every school he's been put into, the last time, it's rumored, for burning the school down. As a last ditch effort, he's sent to the Applewhites, a disgustingly creative family (mom's a writer, dad's a director, the kids are dancers, sculptors, etc.) whose kids are given free reign over their own education. E.D., the only non-artistic Applewhite, is also the only Applewhite who cares about schedules, organization, school, & she & Jake clash from the start. There's a lot of humor in the Applewhite's chaotic household, but there are a lot of jerks, too. Everyone is selfish, forgetful, and neglectful, and dad's an outright jackass. Sure, they all pull together to put on a show out in the barn, but you never get a sense that they have any idea just how awful they've been to Jake, to E.D., and especially to 4-year old Destiny.

Juan de Pareja was born a slave in 17th century Spain. When his mistress died, he was sent with the rest of her goods to her nephew, the painter Diego Velasquez. Despite their differences in station, the two men become friends, and eventually Juan becomes an artist in his own right, despite it being illegal to teach a slave any of the arts. Very interesting story, with a lot of detail about life in Spain and Italy during that time.

Mackie Doyle is an outcast at school—too pale, eyes too dark, sickly, faints at the sight of blood. He hates being different, but the thing is, he IS different. Mackie Doyle isn't really Mackie Doyle at all—he's a replacement, left behind when the real Mackie was taken away, never to be seen again. Kids have always gone missing in Gentry, but now it's the little sister of a girl Mackie likes and he's determined to get her back. Along the way he meets his own people and discovers the dark secret that links his people and the town of Gentry.